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tv   CNN Newsroom  CNN  January 20, 2013 5:00am-6:00am PST

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enter the room, which is the first floor foyer of the house there. it is really a beautiful room with a lot of artwork and something we know is sort of interesting, one of the pieces of artwork that guests will be looking at as they watch the vice president sworn in for another term will be the lincoln delivering his second inaugural address, perhaps the most famous second inaugural address in history. so, his family will be watching on. he will be sworn in by associate justice sonia sotomayor. this will be the first hispanic associate justice to swear in a vice president, the fourth woman to do so. and he will be placing his hand, the vice president will, on the biden family bible. you will see when it happens, it's a pretty big bible, five inches thick. this is the bible that has been in the family back to the late 1800s and this is the bible that the vice president has been sworn in before, during his senate terms and also his son,
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beau bind, was sworn in to be attorney general of delaware. this will be an interesting ceremony. another thing to point out, wolf, while the constitution explains the president is to taken a oath it doesn't say the same thing for a vice president. this san oath that is actually going to be longer than what the president will be taking later today and it's something that congress created by statute that actually is not in the constitution, wolf. >> and the vice president -- i just want to point out to our viewers, looking at live pictures of the residence over at the naval observatory, the vice presidential residence where the supreme court justice, sonia sotomayor will swear in the vice president for a second term in this private ceremony t is the official ceremony. this is really what counts. tomorrow is the public ceremony. they want to share all the festivities on monday as opposed to sunday. this goes back to tradition. but today, according to the constitution, they must go ahead
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before noon eastern time with this swearing-in ceremony. and brianna, the vice presidential ceremony during this, the 8 a.m. eastern hour, the presidential ceremony, official ceremony, will take place during the 11 a.m. eastern hour at exact 14ri 1:55. they have to do it before noon, right? >> that's right. and that is mandated by the constitution that will take place here at the white house in the blue room. again, we will be covering that, wolf, but it's going to be a much smaller ceremony, obviously, than tomorrow, where we expect hundreds of thousands of people will be on the mall to watch president obama sworn in. >> stand by, brianna, you are going to be with me throughout this hour, our special coverage, getting ready for the vice presidential swearing in ceremony. let's get some analysis from our cnn political analyst, david gergen. he is here on the national mall with me. and analyst jeffrey toobin. the oath he takes, jeffrey, is different than the presidential
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oath? >> it is much longer around has none of the eloquence and grandeur of the very brief presidential oath, which is mandated in the constitution. >> explain why? >> only 35 words. >> the presidential oath. >> the presidential oath there is no vice presidential oath called for in the constitution. what the -- but long in the late 1880s decide there had should be a vice presidential oath, too, but maybe this is a lesson about congress. congress made it much longer, more complicated. no one would even attempt to memorize the vice presidential oath. so john paul steven, who administered the oath four years ago, add card and i'm sure sonia sotomayor will have a card to read it to the vice president. >> you worked for four presidents, david gergen, so take us a little bit inside this vice presidential ceremony we are about to see. for joe biden, who spent a lifetime in politics, eventually becoming the vice president of the united states and now a second term this is huge. >> it's very big.
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yesterday exthere was a funny moment, vice president on the road was out, called himself president biden. proud to be presidented by in, he had to correct himself. i do think given recent events, takes on significance, the president brought joe biden into the middle of the talks on the fiscal cliff, helps finalize the agreement, then turned to him on gun control, there has been rumblings out there now that vice president biden might actually be interested in running in 2016. there's a whiff of politics today as justice sotomayor swears him in. it is not an accident, i think the first hispanic justice. >> suggesting part of his courting, the hispanic vote, is that what you think? >> had just possibly they had that in mind. just possibly. >> possibly 100% chance that is the case. now it is also true that sonia soto may certificate first justice appointed by the
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obama/biden team. when he was senator, he was chairman of the judiciary committee. supreme court justices, he has voted on -- he had voted on all the justices before he became vice president, he is someone intimately familiar with the supreme court, but it is definitely true that the idea of having the first hispanic justice swear him n >> you have written are your book started out with the chief justice roberts last time, sort of manning ling the oath f is there a manning ling this morning at five minutes to 12 and goes over until five minutes after 12, does joe biden become president for five minutes? >> you know what he doesn't. one of the great things about constitution is there are gaps and mysteries. suppose, just for example, president obama didn't take the oath. you know what would happen? nothing. he would be the president. >> really? >> is quite clear that the electoral college has met. he is going to be the president at noon. but the constitution also says take the oath, but the ambiguity
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there even if he didn't take the oerkts he would still become president. i don't think is there any chance of that he is going to be there to take the oath. >> we have a little clip of the flub four years ago, you have unique insight into this i want to play it remind our viewers what happened and then we will discuss. >> the oath, senator? >> i am. >> i, barack hussein obama do solemnly swear -- >> i barack hussein obama do solemnly swear. >> that i will execute the office of president to the united states faithfully. >> that i will execute -- >> faithfully the office of president of the united states. >> the office of president of the united states faithfully. >> prepared to take the oath, senator? >> i am. >> i barack hussein obama -- >> there you saw it. so you have done a lot of work, a lot of reporting, a lot of research, jeffrey.
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what happened? >> it is actually fairly simple story. john roberts is someone who prepares fastidiously for everything in his life and he prepared for this as well. he prepared a card. he -- which i think we have behind -- we have a copy of it, 'cause it's in my book. and in that card, he parsed out precisely how the words would be broken -- would be broken up. do we have the card there? let's see. that is the redo, that photograph there at the white house the next day. anyway, he divided up the words and put it on this card. this card was then e-mailed to a secretary on the congressional committee that was supervising the inauguration. that secretary never forwarded the card to the obama transition office, so, obama didn't know how roberts was gonna divide up the words. what happened was if you listen very carefully is that obama
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interrupted roberts, after he said his name. "i, barack obama -- i barack hussein obama" -- roberts expected him to say do solemnly swear in that first line. that's what confused the two of them. and then that next line, "will faithfully execute the office of the united states" that's what was messed up. >> david, here's what they needed to do and hopefully they have done it this time them need rehearse it, privately, just in a little room, just the two of them, to do it two or three times, make sure you got it right. this is history. >> well, it is history. does bring us to this interesting point, there is going to be a lot of trivia as well as significant things talked about here today. the president had to take it again, he took it twice last time and now because the official inauguration falls on sun zrarks to take the oath of office twice on this time, meaning he will take the oath of office four times, only one other american man in history taken the oath of office four times as president, franklin
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roosevelt. >> he was elected four times. >> obama doesn't get to be president for that long. >> bunt this up. when we redid it four years ago, a couple days later, accident have to do it but they just did it just to be on the safe side is that why? >> here's why politics come into t as they thought about whether to redo the oath, they were thinking, look, this is a president who's been accused of not being born in the united states. people are really looking for reasons to question his authentici authenticity. so they thought, look, let's get rid of this problem at the beginning. let's redo the oath there is the photograph there in the mac room in the white house, done at 7:00 in the evening on january 21st and they eliminated the problem but one of the reasons they felt to deal with the problem is they felt his political opposition, they might file a lawsuit they would be in court. they didn't want to have that sort of uncertainty.
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>> did it, got over with and that is that he will be in the blue room today administering the oath at the white house. security is clearly a top priority here in washington for all of these inaugural events. 13,000 troops will be on hand to help out. our pentagon correspondent, chris lawrence is keeping a close eye on security for all of us. chris, are there any security concerns right now? i'm sure a lot of people are nervous but no real issues have emerged, have they? >> no, these the bottom line and the big picture here, wolf, there are no credible security throats inauguration right now. that's the word that we are hearing from law enforcement officials, federal law enforcement officials here in d.c. it is a big change from four years ago because four years ago, there were rising threats. there were also nearly 2 million people descending on the city and there were some real fears about what could happen there is still concern and still been game planning every possible
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scenario, but is there a different tone to the security this time. a, because you've got much fewer people coming. i mean, maybe 600, 700,000 people coming out here. that's big drop from the 1.8 million we saw. it's allowed them to make some changes. some of the bridges from virginia into the city that were closed to you and me last time so that police and all the buses could use them, those will be open. it will be easier access into the city and they learned a lot from last time. so, the secret service is now on twitter. they are going to be putting out updates to help people get around and get people the information they need. so maybe they don't run into as many security problems as you had last time. wolf? >> all right, chris. stand by. we will get back to you. we are standing by ourselves for the vice president of the united states. he is getting ready to be sworn in officially for a second term as the vice president. we are going to have live coverage of that within the next few moments.
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our special coverage from the national mall here in washington, this inauguration weekend, continues right after this. ♪ you know my heart burns for you... ♪ i'm up next, but now i'm singing the heartburn blues. hold on, prilosec isn't for fast relief. cue up alka-seltzer. it stops heartburn fast. ♪ oh what a relief it is! cue up alka-seltzer. it stops heartburn fast. see lioutdoors, or in.ight. transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. visit your eyecare professional today to ask about our newest lenses, transitions vantage and transitions xtractive lenses. experience life well lit. ask which transitions adaptive lens is best for you.
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to create options for you. not only that, we're using what we learn from these partners to shape our curriculum, so that when you find the job you want you'll be a perfect fit. let's get to work. looking at live pictures of the white house on this inauguration day here in the united states. president obama getting ready to begin his second term as president. he will be sworn in by the chief justice at 11:55 a.m. eastern, as mandated by the constitution. you are also looking at live pictures from the vice presidential residence at the naval observatory here in washington. the vice president getting
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ready, momentarily, to take his oath of office as well. sonia sotomayor, the justice, supreme court justice, will administer the oath of office for the vice president. you see members of his family there up on the stage. a lot of guests are there as well, invited guests over at the vice presidential residence. all of this you will see live here at 8:20 a.m. eastern, the next few minutes. we will see the oath of office beinged ed a miadministered for president. at 11:55 a.m., the president will be sworn in for a second term as well. let's bring in cnn's athena jones, in washington up on capitol hill what all right vice president's swearing-in ceremony be like? we are all going to see it in the next few minutes. give us a little preview, athena. >> reporter: hi, wolf. you mentioned that justice sotomayor will be swearing in vice president biden. he personally select herd to do the swearing in. we are told she is the first hispanic and fourth female judge to conduct a swearing in. one other detail, interesting
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factoid, i guess, is that vice president biden will be using a family bible, a bible that's been in the biden family since 1893. we are told it is five inches thick and used the bible in all of his past swearing-ins as senator. and a few tidbits to look out for as we wait for the next few minutes, wolf. >> as jeffrey toobin mentioned -- excuse me, as david gergen mentioned a little while ago, athena, the vice president had a little gaffe last night, maybe foreshadowing his plans for 2016. but tell us what happened. >> you know, this sounds like it was really, really funny, wish quo have been in the room last night. he went to a party given by the state society of iowa, you can imagine there were a lot of iowa democrats there. we know how important the state of iowa is in primaries. so he made a mistake and introduced himself, said he was proud to be president and everyone laughed and, of course, he managed to correct himself,
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but it was pretty funny, wolf. >> athena stand by. candy crowley is joining us. welcome. we got david gergen here. we have jeffrey toobin here, within the next few -- minute or so we are going to hear the vice president. you and i have covered joe biden for a long time, when he was chairman of the judiciary committee, chairman of the foreign relations committee, ran for president, didn't necessarily work out. he is vice president. for him personally what is going through his mind right now? >> you know, it's interesting, just talking to the senior white house advisory, david plouffe and how the first sometime kind of like your wedding. you don't remember much of it because there's just so much going on. he said the second time i'm gonna sit back and enjoy it like renewing your vows almost. take time to enjoy it. i think there's some of that. we are already talking about 2016. certainly, he has just thrown a lot of hints out there. do you think he will be thinking about that right when he takes the oath of office? no. i think he will be thinking
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about the moment and enjoying it. >> especially his family and grandkids, a very tightly knit delaware family, shall we say and see some of that come through. sonia sotomayor, i assume she has practiced what they are about to do. >> they take this very seriously this is a big deal to these justice. john paul stevens, who did it four years ago in his chambers this the supreme court, an absolutely enormous photograph of him administering the oath to joe biden in 2009. so i think that tells you how important it was to john paul stevens. sonia sotomayor has a book out now, "my beloved world" and that -- she has been out in public a lot. she has been talking about how she is pretty nervous about this experience. >> it looks like they are standing up for the vice president. they are applauding. you know what let's just enjoy it for a moment. here it is, the swearing-in ceremony.
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>> the vice president has asked that we bless this occasion with prayer. and so let us pray. the prophet micah proclaims, you have been told, oh, mortal what is good and what the lord requires of you, only to love justice and goodness and walk humbly with your god. gracious god, that the moment in history, we ask your blessing on your servant, joseph, as he renews his sacred pledge to his country age midall the complexities of our world, a world so beautiful but also broken, give him a share of your wisdom so that he can know what
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is good and give him the courage to always do what is right. walk close by him so he can do justice and to labor tireless for a more just and gentle world. empower him to be a voice for those without a voice, for those on the margins, those so easily overlooked, for you will judge us all by how we care for the least among us. continue to give him the humility to always call upon you in times of need and with the gift of faith given to him by his church and his family, help him to always know of your presence. lord, protect our president and our vice president and their families in their service to us all. finally, we thank you for the blessings of peace and of liberty. we honor the sacrifices of so many in our military, in our foreign service you in civil service, who safeguard these blessings daily and we renew our
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pledge as citizens to join them in that noble labor to always work for the common good. and so help us to set aside self-interest and to meet one another on the common ground to which you call us. you, generous god, have given us so much and we humbly offer these gifts for the good of others and for your greater glory. amen. >> mr. vice president, are you ready, sir? >> i am, your honor. >> please place your hand on the bible and raise your right hand and repeat after the me. i, joseph r. biden jr., do solemnly swear. >> i joseph r. biden, jr., do solemnly swear. >> that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states. >> that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states. >> against all enemies, foreign and domestic. >> against all enemies, foreign and domestic. >> that i will bear true faith
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and allegiance to the same. >> that i will bare true faith and allegiance to the same. >> that i take this obligation freely. >> that i take this obligation freely. >> without any mental reservation or purpose of evachlgs. >> without any mental reservation or purpose of evachlgs >> and that i will well and faithfully disx. >> a and i will well and faithfully discharge. >> the duties of the office on which i am about to enter. >> the duties of the office of which i'm about to enter. >> so help me god. >> so help me god. >> congratulations. >> thank you, your honor. [ applause ]
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>> i want to explain to you what a wonderful honor it was and how much out of her way the justice had to go. she is due in new york. she has to leave right now, so i apologize, we are going to walk out. her car is waiting so she can catch a train. i hope i haven't caused her to miss. and i am leaving with the -- going and going to meet the president to do the traditional laying the wreath at the tomb over in arlington and i -- we are having breakfast. i will be back, they tell me in 40 minutes. i hope some of you will still be here but i thank you very, very, very much for sharing this morning with jill and me. and madam justice, it has been an honor, a great honor. thank you. enjoy breakfast. be back in a minute. [ applause ] >> all right so, there you have it. the vice president of the united states, sworn in for a second
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term in office. a nice, moving ceremony. we heard a prayer from the reverend kevin o'brien of georgetown university. the vice president himself a catholic, obviously moved by what we all saw and went through. candy crow lakers thought on what we just saw. >> i was looking at him, he -- his brand, if you will, in politics is great because it's real. he is a comfortable man. even when he is doing something as solemn as this, there is something comfortable about joe biden that attracts people to him. that sort of every man thing. he still has a way of taking an august ceremony and make it seem not every day but just comfortable and approachable. >> a man of the people. >> he has also become a very influential figure. some vice presidents are and some vice presidents are not. look at his involvement in the gun control proposal that just came out. in the settlement of the first fiscal cliff where he and mitch
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mcconnell negotiated a deal essentially to keep the government functioning, this is a very important person in this administration. >> he is. i thought there was a sweet moment. there was something about that, just seemed to work very well for everybody. and go back to candy's point, he is very comfortable with himself and i think the country is very comfortable with him, which is very important in a v you look at the approval ratings now, various people in washington, he just below president obama. and i think there's a sense in the country, jeffrey's point, that he is -- that he is a serious enough man, he has this warmth but also serious, so that something might happen to president obama, god forbid, that the country would be comfortable with having him as the commander in chief and as the president. >> yeah. you have no doubt that he is looking ahead to 2016? >> no. >> david, do you? >> no. no. >> jeffrey, do you? >> he is 70 years old. that's big factor. yes, he is looking ahead but i'm
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not sure the country would be ready for someone in their eighth decade running for the first time for president. >> hillary clinton would not be that much younger. >> an issue for her, too. less of an issue. >> i think it is helpful for the president to have the hints that he might run again because you the president is going to soon enough run into the question of being a lame duck. if people are looking at joe biden as potentially a successor, it, in effect, keeps his strength going longer than it might. >> keeps energy in the administration, absolutely. and i think that's, in part, i somewhat disagree. i mean, yes, he was instrumental in the gun panel, but the gun panel end was set before he went in there and talked to all those people. to me, that was -- let's bring everybody in and we are going to come to this conclusion. nonetheless, he was talking to mitch mcconnell, he is the one that made that happen. the interesting play to me is these are roles that president obama has given him to elevate him.
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>> exactly. >> that is interesting to me just as we look forward to the next four years. >> how did the justice, sonia sotomayor do? >> looked flawless to me. you saw she had written it out and she had written it out with the pauses indicated. that's the way to do it safely. you saw how long it was. no one could possibly memorize that. the interesting question, and i don't know the answer, is will chief justice roberts will have a card? will he surrender his famous memory? he has very famous memory, and just do it with a card or will he try again without a card and see how that goes? >> i don't think he should take any risks. >> my guess is he is a very proud man. my guess is he will not have a card, dole it from memory again. but he will have made clear this time, unlike last time, to the president where the pauses are going to be. 'cause that was the problem. >> so, trivia question. >> right. >> george washington, at the end of the oerkt the constitutional oath, add the word "so help me god"s, not in the original oath.
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>> not in the oath, whether he did or not is a hist mystery. >> we just heard joe biden do the same thing, "so help me god" is that in the official vice presidential oath? >> i don't know. >> you don't know? >> i don't know enough about -- we are going to have to -- >> the answer is this. >> you-all had read your research. yes. yes. >> the answer is it weekends "so help me god." the statute says i do solemnly swear or affirm. now -- >> so does the constitution. the constitution gives that up. >> this particular oath, sonia sotomayor said swear, she didn't use the word affirm. what is the difference? >> the constitution gives you a choice, as does the statute. now, here's a good trivia, which which i happen to note answer to this one, which president affirmed? only one president in history has ever affirmed. >> instead of using the word swear? >> franklin pierce. the >> frank lynn pierce. why? >> the beginning and end of what i know about franklin pierce. but because -- the reason it was put in is that quakers, who were
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significant for us in american politics around the turn of the 18th century, don't like to swear, that that's considered inappropriate. but i don't know if franklin pierce was a quaker. >> every president i have known swears. >> that's right. they certainly do >> not in this particular case. >> candy, off special state of the union at the top of the hour? >> including david plouffe, senior white house adviser around john barrasso exleadership on the republican side you senator, what the art of the doable is here in terms of -- president obama is a very ambitious agenda and they admit at the white house they are not going to get all of this you look at energy and climate change and immigration, which they may just get, they think that's their big thing, and gun control so we wanted to see what's the art of the doable here? >> we will be watching, the top of the hour, special state of the union from right here on the national mall. >> thanks. >> candy crowley, better get ready, do some preparation for that. >> every once in a while. >> between now and 9 a.m.
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eastern. much more of our special coverage here from the national mall, a lot more coming up. stay with us. we will be right back. ♪ [ slap! ] [ slap! slap! slap! slap! ] ow! ow! [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium-rich tums starts working so fast you'll forget you had heartburn. ♪ tum tum tum tum tums i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. [ construction sounds ] ♪ [ watch ticking ] [ engine revs ] come in. ♪ got the coffee.
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welcome back to this special coverage of the presidential inauguration, i'm wolf blitzer on the national mall. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. just moments ago, the vice president, joe biden in, was officially sworn into a second term. you saw it live right here on cnn. and within the next couple of hours, the president will be sworn in to office for a second term as well. also in a private ceremony this one in the blue room over at the white house. it's all leading up to tomorrow's big inauguration day festivities, the public events. brianna keeler is our white house correspondent and standing by over at the white house. brianna, now that the vice president has been sworn in by sonia sotomayor, we are all getting ready for the presidential swearing-in ceremony. it will be very low key. just set the scene for us. >> reporter: it will be very low key t will take place in the blue room. as you just saw at the naval observatory, what was really an intimate ceremony with just 120 guests, friends and family, this, too, will be a small group
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of people, those very close to president obama watching him sworn in. and wolf, it's sort of fascinating, because this is the third time that he will have been sworn in. you have been talking about the flubbed line of his oath, the first time he was sworn in four years ago and the redo that took place here at the white house a couple of days after that. so and because this inauguration day falls on sunday and he will also receive the oath again in a -- that public ceremony tomorrow, he will ultimately be sworn in four times. the last time this happened was when fdr was sworn in four times. of course, he was sworn in four times because he severed four terms, not because of these sort of interesting circumstances. but president obama will be sworn in shortly before noon. he has to be sworn in today, as the constitution dictates, he will be given that oath, a very short oath, we will see him give before hundreds of thousands of people on the national mall
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tomorrow, wolf. >> i understand, brianna, the president will give, obviously tomorrow after he is sworn in publicly, an inspirational-type speech, doing big themes, full, for a second term, but the policy details will be left for the state of the union address in early february. that's -- i assume that's what you're hearing as well. >> that's right. i have been told by sources, wolf, it is sort of the act one to act two, which will be the state of the union. as you know, the inaugural address is significantly shorter than the state of the union address last -- his last inaugural address was 18 minutes i. the president's last state of the union address was 65 minutes. so, we are expecting this will be broad strokes and he will fill in some of the details and policy prescriptions he wants to see in his next term in the state of the union address next month before a joint session of congress. now, we are expecting that he will talk broadly about some themes, including that he will acknowledge there is this
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division. obviously, he very much has differences with republican uns and they were highlighted recent any that fiscal cliff battle but he will talk about how there's a responsibility to work on issues where there is common ground. this is different, obviously, from what we heard four years ago where he talked a lot about universe -- pardon me, unity of purpose. he talked about putting aside petty grievances and other things that had a stranglehold on politics. trying to usher in this postpartisan era of politics that ultimately failed. he will be confronting the reality that he has had to face during this last term and also that he is facing at this very moment. ? a speech, as the state of the union, suspended between this fiscal cliff bat and upcoming debt creaming battle and he can't ignore reality, wolf. >> brianna, i know you will be busy. stand by. we are going to get back to you, as brianna just mentioned. the president will be sworn in at 11:55 a.m., eastern. private ceremony that we will
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see live here at the white house. let's take a look back over the last 100 years of inaugurations. >> no this is not carnival day in pumpkin center. it is the day of days in washington, d.c. >> the presidential -- >> presidential -- >> oath of office. >> here comes the inaugural parade. >> are you prepared to take the oath of office as president of the united states? >> i am, sir. >> left hand on the bible and raise your right hand. >> raise your right hand. >> you will raise your right hand and repeat after me. >> after me. i, william jefferson clinton, do solemnly swear. >> i jimmy carter. >> i barack hussein obama. >> i george walker bush, do solemnly swear -- >> that i will faithfully execute the office of -- >> that i will faithfully execute the office -- >> execute the office of president of the united states faithfully. >> faithful lit office of president of the united states. >> president of the united states faithfully. >> will to the best of my
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ability. >> best of my ability. >> eisenhower began his second term as leader, not only america, but all free people. >> preserve. >> protect. >> and defend. >> preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the united states. >> the constitution of the united states. >> vice president lyndon b. johnson and the grief-stricken widow with them, takes the presidential oath aboard the jet, which brings him together with the body of the late president, back to washington. >> the flag flies at half-staff. president truman asks the full roosevelt cabinet remain in office. >> so help you god. >> so help me god. >> so help me god. >> so help me god. >> so help me god. >> so help me god. >> so help me god. >> so help me god. >> so help you god. >> so help me god. >> so help me god. ♪
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welcome back to our special coverage of the 57th presidential inauguration. i'm wolf blitzer. we are here live on the national mall in washington, d.c. only moments ago, the vice president of the united states, joe biden, was sworn in for a second term. at 11:55 a.m. eastern today, the president will be sworn in for a second term. this, according to the constitution, has to be done before noon on january 20th. the public ceremonies will take place tomorrow. david gergen is here. jeffrey toobin is here. jeff rib, the presidential swearing-in ceremony, chief justice john roberts will do it once again, as he did four years ago, twice the president will be there relationship between these two men, we know about the inauguration, about the oath of office. but john roberts really saved the president, as far as his signature issue, obama health care is concerned. >> it's a complicated relationship. barack obama is the only president in american history to be sworn in by a chief justice whose confirmation he voted against, which obama did when he
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was a senator in 2005. citizens united, a decision deeply offense sive to the obama administration, which the president attacked in the state of the union address in 2010, in front of john roberts, something robert didn't like at all. june 25 last year the obama care decision the central achievement of his presidency august 5-4 decision where chief justice roberts shocked everyone, myself very much included, voting to uphold the law, that makes up for everything else h that decision got other wake the obama presidency would look very different. >> david, anthony kennedy would have done that wouldn't have been that shocked but for the chief justice you john roberts, to do it, it says a lot about where he is coming from. >> it does. and there's a lot -- there are a lot of indications that at the end of the day john roberts placed the reputation of the court above all other considerations, because if he
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had gone against obama care, down 5-4, five conservatives voting it down there was a real fear the court would seem poll lit side, the indications are that he went the other way. what's striking to me there were actually two republicans who really helped president obama get re-elected. one was john roberts that decision was very important. the other was ben bernanke at the federal reserve. both of them made a major difference. here we are. one of the reasons that president obama very much wanted to get re-elected, was to embed obama care into the system so that it could not be repealed. it would be ensured. if he had a second four years. he was worried that if he didn't get that second four years, republicans would undo it. now we are all on the path toward let's see if we can make this work. >> we got a few big supreme court cases coming up in this current session, including same-sex marriage and the chief justice could play a significant role here as well. >> he could. and, you know, he is someone who understands american politics very well.
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when he was a lawyer at hogan & hartson, as that law firm used to be known he was someone who used to sit around and speculate about who is going to win, someone who really gets politics. what is interesting about same-sex marriage, the politics have changed so much. even five years ago, even three years ago, same-sex marriage is perceived as somewhat of a risky political issue for people who supported it. now the momentum is all in the other direction and with two very big cases regarding same-sex marriage, the constitutional of the defense of marriage act and the constitutionality of proposition 8 in california. john roberts, i think his vote may you can more in play than it seems because i don't think he is going to want to be a chief justice who goes down in history against the tide of history. so i think he is going to -- his role is especially interesting in that case. also, future of affirmative action. >> those are huge issues in the supreme court. the president can serve four
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year, and another four years, eight years. if you are a chief justice of the supreme court, you can serve 30 or 40 years. david, the decisions made by the president the next four years, he could nominate one or two supreme court justice and that will have an impact for decades. >> why we went through a reagan period and the courts remained conservative much longer than the electorate did. and similarly, if barack obama, you know, has several appointments and there is another democrat, the court could then remain liberal a lot longer than the country does. it is very interesting. >> there are four justices -- >> you see the president -- that is the presidential motorcade, heading over to arlington national cemetery to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown this is part of the tradition that takes place as well. the vice president will be going with the president for that. you heard the vice president say at the end of the ceremony either at the vice presidential residence. we will have live coverage of that in our next hour as well. >> there are four justices in their 70s, ruth bader ginsburg is 79.
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i think most people expect they will leave in the next four years but she is a liberal member of the court f she is replaced by president obama, the balance will not change. the two people to keep an eye on are antonin scalia and anthony kennedy, both 76 years old. if either of them were to leave and obama could replace them, his legacy would be dramatically different. >> in both cases, they seem pretty healthy and they both seem that they want to go on. >> absolutely. and they don't want to give the seat to barack obama. these justices are very aware of which president picks their replacement and they don't want to undo their own legacy by giving a president of the other party the chance to replace them h >> the swearing-in ceremony for the president of the united states coming up at 11:55 a.m. eastern. we will, of course, have live coverage of that live coverage in the next hour, the president heading over to arlington national sell tamper you saw the motorcade leaving the white house there is the tomb of the unknown. the president will be there to
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remember those who served, those who died. the president and the vice president will lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns. we are watching all of this unfold. our special coverage continues right after this. you name it...i've hooked it. but there's one... one that's always eluded me. thought i had it in the blizzard of '93. ha! never even came close. sometimes, i actually think it's mocking me. [ engine revs ] what?! quattro!!!!! ♪ ♪ i don't wanna be right [ record scratch ] what?! it's not bad for you. it just tastes that way. [ female announcer ] honey nut cheerios cereal -- heart-healthy, whole grain oats. you can't go wrong loving it. heart-healthy, whole grain oats. officemax can help you drive suand down.s down...
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and welcome back to our special coverage. before president obama's officially sworn in to his second term today, at exactly 11:55 a.m. eastern time, he will join the vice president, joe biden in a wreath-laying over at the tomb of the unknowns at arlington national cemetery, right across washington, d.c., across the potomac river. he is on his way there right now. we have a live picture coming in from arlington there you see the tomb of the unknown of. we will, of course, be bringing you the wreath-laying ceremony as it happens at the top of the hour during a special edition of cnn's "state of the union" with candy crowley. moments ago, joe biden was officially sworn in for his second term as vice president r candy is here with me right now. i thought it was a lovely, moving ceremony, short, sweet, to the point.
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official ceremony tomorrow. but they had to do this in order to obey the constitution. >> they do you know, if you're going to be vice president or president, you probably ought to obey the constitution. we are glad they have done it. it was -- there's -- tomorrow, you know, a big show and there will be 800,000, however, many people here, a lot of folks here and they will watch it and there's a lot of pageantry i but the in the mass so i have these is kind of fun. we don't get it very often, right? it this is the seventh time that the date has fallen on a sunday. so these private ceremonies i think are really nice. >> i think they are beautiful. for those of us who love history, we will remember this, not only you and me, but everybody who was watching in the united states and around the world will remember these moments. >> hard to remember entire families, children, grandchildren, are all involved. see them in their natural
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habitat, the naval observatory, in the case of the vice president, is kind of fun. >> you will have live coverage during "state of the union" of the wreath-laying ceremony at the tomb of the unknowns. look forward to seeing that. what else do you have coming up? >> david plouffe, senior adviser to the white house, look ahead to the second term, going to get the republican take with john bar ras soccer heads the republican policy committee on the senate side. we are going to have a panel that's going to include newt gingrich and russ feingold. i think -- i look forward to that i think that will be a fun, interesting take on what's going to happen. >> on the left and on the right. >> two speechwriters that i know you know, don bayer used to write for clinton, michael guesten, used to write for bush, how you put together an inaugural speech, what does this president in these times have to say up there to move forward in the next four years. >> is hard, if you are a speechwriter, writing a speech for somebody like president obama who likes to write his own speeches and he is a very good writer. >> yeah, but in the end, presidents have a lot to do, so i think oftentimes, we hear, oh,
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not just this president, lots of presidents, they wrote themselves, they did most of the work themselves. i think the speechwriters are like ghost writers, you say well, that was mostly his. but they know how to turn a phrase or two and how to capture the moment. >> they need one line in each of these >> can goes into granite some place. >> we will never forget. it is important to remember tomorrow is martin luther king junior day, as well as brings additional tradition into what's going to happen. >> just gives it the moment more moments, as they say. >> we will see you right at the top of the hour, candy, looking forward your show. that does it for me, i will be back 1591 a.m. eastern for special coverage around the president's swearing-in ceremony in the blue room over at the white house. "state of the union" with candy crowley will begin right after this. ♪
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i'm a candy crowley from the national mall in washington, d.c. today, three more hours to four more years. >> ask them what's more important, doing whatever it takes to get an a grade from the gun lobby that funds their campaigns or giving parents some peace of mind when they drop their child off for first grade. >> guns, tax and immigration. the president signals a second term with more bite than bipartisanship. the tone and the task with senior obama adviser are david plouffe. the republican take with wyoming senator john barrasso, head of the gop policy committee. also, spotlight on the inaugural speech with presidential wordhs